Brand New Truck with 7 Hours of Idle Time

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted by gfh77665
I have a new RAM too. What, other than actual idling, activates the idle count? I have rang up 4 hours idle with about 80 drive hours. I know I do not let my truck idle more than 30 seconds or so before driving off, then I shut it off at my destination. Is the meter running even if in Drive gear while stationary at a stop light? This is the only thing I can think of that is making the idle hours accumulate.


My question also. I have 56 idle hours with 568 drive hours, as of today 21,900 miles on it. I don't sit and idle either, but I do drive slow out in the country just wasting time.
 
For a rule of thumb on the Caprice PPV 1 idle hour is about 33 miles.

I have 48,000 miles on the Caprice 1700 engine hours and 450 idle hours. I picked it up with 38 idle hours on it and 12,000 miles.

Having said all that there are literally 1000's of Fleet Caprice PPVs out there with over 12,000 engine hours on them. 8000 of those being idle hours.

My 2017 Silverado has 32,000 miles on it and 2100 engine hours on. Having talked with the previous owner before I purchased it, I found out he idled it as he lived pretty far not British Columbia. I suspect I will get 200,000 miles and over 10,000 hours on the truck as there are similar trucks out there with that type of use.

7 hours? That is 231 miles. I wouldn't be losing any sleep over that.
 
No extended idling is mostly because they recommend varying the rpm during the break-in period. My uncle and my dad used to idle their new cars with the hood up for hours every day ... that was their break-in procedure! All cars ran perfectly and lasted a LONG time! I've excessively idled new cars as well. We still own 4 (purchased new) cars 2 with 210K and 370K miles and still running great! I idled my new truck a lot (v8 & 3 yrs old now) and it runs smoother than my co-worker's truck with hardly any ticking noise. Go figure not sure why mine sounds so smooth (gas or oil maybe?) compared to his. Same truck & engine but his is a year older. I also didn't tow or rev it up past %50 mark during the break-in period and tried not to do any short trips in order to get the engine fully warmed up (one reason I sometimes idled way too much).

long story short, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I wouldn't worry. My wife's 2017 Yukon has 48,000 miles and 636 idle hours on it. Lots of waiting to pickup kids from school/activities or letting the babies sleep a little bit or breastfeeding before going into the store. Probably why the battery was cooked in 2.5 years. I need to check and see if the remote start adds to the idle and engine hours as the key isn't on, I imagine it does.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by gfh77665
I am asking about this on a RAM forum. Will post again when I get an answer.


I wouldn't worry about your 7hrs in the least.

When I bought the 2017 Ram in my sig, it was a year old and had 12K miles on it. It has something like 142 idle hours and ~400 drive hours on it.

I think I had a thread going here a month or 2 back, but my drive hours reset itself somehow at around 1200hrs and ~42K miles on the clock (I believe), so now I'm reading like 170 idle and 350 drive time. There's no way to manually reset these timers on my Ram and I never disconnected the battery, etc..
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by double vanos
Forget about it. Put it in service and don't look back. If you're really that worried, change out the FF early which you'll probably do anyway, because you're a bitoger.


^^^This^^^
 
Originally Posted by gfh77665
I have a new RAM too. What, other than actual idling, activates the idle count? I have rang up 4 hours idle with about 80 drive hours. I know I do not let my truck idle more than 30 seconds or so before driving off, then I shut it off at my destination. Is the meter running even if in Drive gear while stationary at a stop light? This is the only thing I can think of that is making the idle hours accumulate.


From my driving habits I would say that idle hours is any time the engine is on and the vehicle is not moving - whether it is in D or P.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
Originally Posted by gfh77665
I am asking about this on a RAM forum. Will post again when I get an answer.


I wouldn't worry about your 7hrs in the least.
.


Cool, but you must be referring to the OP, not me. I don't have 7 hours on mine.
 
The consensus over on the RAM forum is that the idle time activates anytime the speedo reads "0". So, even stopping at a red light puts a few minutes on it.

BTW I think the OP is fine with the 7 hours of idle. Drive on, and enjoy your new RAM!
 
Not a big deal and nobody will exchange this truck for another based on idle time meter. It;s quite silly to think they would.

My 15 Grand Caravan had 30 hours on it despite having about 20 miles on the odo. My menu doesn't specify idle vs running, just total hours run. Since then it has been used pretty much exclusively for short errand trips with occasional family trip mixed in. It has only only about 34k miles on it. It burns no oil, the tailpipe is nioce and clean despite short trips. I did break it in quite aggressively though.

I would not worry about it.
 
Too bad the OP didn't ASK or check first before signing and driving off the lot!
 
I'm the OP. Owned a VW shop for 13 years. We overhauled motors and were very careful about seating the rings. The only reason I am concerned about this is the fact that it was BRAND Friggin' NEW motor. Cylinder walls can glaze and the rings will NEVER seat during this abuse. I'm gonna run the heck out of it now with regular blasts to redline to make sure they do seat. Think about it for a moment. When you go to work and start your 8 hour day this NEW 50K truck was idling in 100 degree heat almost until you get off work. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Dang DAY...……………….Nice Break- in yeah,right!
 
Originally Posted by hal26
I'm the OP. Owned a VW shop for 13 years. We overhauled motors and were very careful about seating the rings. The only reason I am concerned about this is the fact that it was BRAND Friggin' NEW motor. Cylinder walls can glaze and the rings will NEVER seat during this abuse. I'm gonna run the heck out of it now with regular blasts to redline to make sure they do seat. Think about it for a moment. When you go to work and start your 8 hour day this NEW 50K truck was idling in 100 degree heat almost until you get off work. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Dang DAY...……………….Nice Break- in yeah,right!


I don't blame you for being concerned, I would be too. I'd still relay your concern to the dealership owner, see what he says.
 
Originally Posted by hal26
I'm the OP. Owned a VW shop for 13 years. We overhauled motors and were very careful about seating the rings. The only reason I am concerned about this is the fact that it was BRAND Friggin' NEW motor. Cylinder walls can glaze and the rings will NEVER seat during this abuse. I'm gonna run the heck out of it now with regular blasts to redline to make sure they do seat. Think about it for a moment. When you go to work and start your 8 hour day this NEW 50K truck was idling in 100 degree heat almost until you get off work. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Dang DAY...……………….Nice Break- in yeah,right!


Whenever I posted about doing the first oil changes on a car at 1,000 and 3,000 miles because most of the wear happens during break in, everybody said no need, modern cars don't need a break in period. So I guess you're worrying about nothing. If anything, "I'm gonna run the heck out of it now with regular blasts to redline" is something specifically mentioned in owners manual NOT to do on a brand new car.
 
Manual says after 300 miles run it fairly hard to insure proper break in. LOOK IT UP
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
Long Idle time, new OCI?
2
Replies
29
Views
4K
Fahrvergnügen
S
New Vehicle Purchase in small-town Montana
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
3K
WeyounDS9
W
2022 Ram 1500 Etorque ….intermittent problems with battery light
Replies
4
Views
3K
WTJackalope
X
2018 Tacoma TRD 3.5L #2 Cylinder Bad - Repair costs/options?
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
9K
Bill7
A
Flickering dash at idle, did not start after I shut it off, battery voltage 12.7 when off. Is alternator fine?
Replies
13
Views
1K
mk378
Back
Top